The Card
by Chickenpony
Summary: It is Rukia's birthday and Byakuya has written her a very special card... Unfortunately Murphy and his damned law seem to have it in for Byakuya. Fluffy. MOVED TO AO3 SAME NAME SAME USERNAME READ IT THERE
1. Chapter 1 - The Card

_**A/N:** This fic is for my best friend, Leazher ( u/4873458/Leazher), whose birthday is tomorrow (That is to say, 4 April. You are all to wish her a happy birthday! Otherwise I shall go from Chickenpony to DEMON and... and... be very upset with you!). She is a big ByaRuki fan, so I wrote her this as her present. Be sure to check out her work too!_

* * *

Dearest Rukia

When I saw you for the very first time, something stirred in me that I had thought was long dead. I knew I had to have you for myself. And right there and then, as soon as it had healed, my heart broke again, for you were undoubtedly the one I was seeking: my late wife's sister, destined to be adopted into the family as my own sibling. I would never be able to love you the way I yearned to.  
However, I am unable to contain myself any longer.

Rukia, I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything. I love you more than any man has a right to love a woman, much less his sister, and I always have. You have made me so much happier than I deserve to be and I hope that one day you will be able to be the same about me. You are the single most important thing in my life. Should the moon, the stars and even the sun fall from the heavens and the world be plunged into darkness for all eternity, I would be alright, as long as you stayed with me.

I have realized that there are some things that are more important than keeping ancient vows. So here's to breaking promises again and again, and making brand new ones to you.

Wishing you a very happy birthday,

Kuchiki Byakuya


	2. Chapter 2 - The Box

**A/N:**_ As always, happy birthday to Leazher, my Lovepanda, the one-and-only Rukia-chan. You ancient hag._

_Love, chickenpony._

_:*_

* * *

_'Kuchiki Byakuya_,' he signed off. Carefully, he re-read the letter that betrayed all his meticulously hidden emotions. He stared disdainfully at the page then folded it up and placed it in a wooden jewellery box with all the others he had written over the years. All the letters he would never dare send…

* * *

Rukia knew what she was doing was both wrong and dangerous. If her brother ever found out she was in his study without his permission… She shuddered. She didn't even want to imagine consequences that dire, but she suspected her punishment would kick off with the word "scatter."

She couldn't help it. Her birthday was the following day and Renji had told her he saw her brother hiding her gift in his desk. She was mad with curiosity, but Renji refused to tell her what he saw. She had tried to guess, but he just smiled knowingly at her whenever she did. That idiot! It was hard to imagine that Renji could keep a secret like that, but of course, this one time, just because it would annoy her, he could. She had tried every method of persuasion and interrogation in her arsenal, including beating him to the brink of death, but he wouldn't give her so much as a hint.  
She had to know!  
Maybe it was that limited edition Chappie she wanted, no, needed! Rukia squealed with anticipation, then quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. Her heart pounded like a runaway racehorse. If she was found here at this ungodly hour…  
Rukia listened for a moment, absolutely silent, frozen in place, waiting for Byakuya to suddenly emerge from the shadows. Finally certain she was still safe, she continued systematically searching his drawers. So far, her search had been wildly unsuccessful: paperwork, ink and brushes, paperwork, paperwork, a book on calligraphy, more paperwork. She crossed her fingers that the final drawer would contain the answers she sought.

Praying silently to Chappie, she slowly opened the last drawer. She was relieved to see it didn't contain paperwork, but instead a wooden jewellery box.  
At first she was disappointed that she had been unable to find out what her gift was after risking her neck, but she supposed she should have expected that level of unreliability. She did get her information from _Renji_. Then it occurred to her that the gift might be in the box. Of course! Her brother wouldn't buy anything as common as a plushie, even if it was a limited edition plushie! It was probably those cute Chappie earrings she secretly admired!

She carefully opened the jewellery box, wondering what was going through Byakuya's head when he decided to keep a jewellery box a) in his desk and b) unlocked. To her relief it wasn't the noisy, musical kind of jewellery box. The kind that would get her caught and killed. Unfortunately, what it also wasn't, was a container for her birthday gift. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it was filled with letters. More bloody letters. Of course. Typical.  
She was just about to give up and go to bed, when she noticed they were all addressed to her. _I shouldn't read them_, she thought, _I shouldn't be rifling through Nii-sama's things in the first place. I should put everything back and go to bed. If he wanted me to read these, he would have sent them instead of hiding them. I should leave. Right now._

In the end, curiosity won out and she began to read.

* * *

Byakuya din't bother dressing when he heard a crash coming from the direction of his study. He just grabbed his zanpakutou and disappeared off to the room in question. He was one-hundred-percent ready for battle, but he stopped dead in his tracks, aghast, when he saw the intruder was Rukia, and the loud noise was the jewellery box clattering to the floor. His jewellery box. The secret one. The one containing his letters. The private letters addressed to Rukia. The ones she never, ever should have seen. The ones she was reading at that moment, right in front of him. Curses.  
"Rukia," he said darkly.  
She looked up immediately. He couldn't understand her expression, but his guess was that it was some version of overwhelming disgust. "Nii-sama…" she whispered timidly.  
"I can explain," they said simultaneously.


	3. UPDATE - JUST GO TO AO3 ALREADY

Chapter 3 is on AO3 go read the continuation there same name same username just a better website

Also happy (early) birthday to my fishpony


End file.
